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No, the trick...

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Is it not advisable to use anchor bolts just with the sheetrock when mounting tv's???????

I have been installing plasma tvs with wall mounts, SOMETIMES using just anchor bolts when there are no studs to use. Basically we use about 6 bolts across the whole tv bracket, and then hang off it to give it the test, and it seems strong enough. I never really felt safe doing it this way, but it has worked. Can anyone tell me if this is unsafe to anchor to only the sheet rock.. Usually its 42" tvs or smaller that we do this.

A 50" plasma can be mounted on a wall with two studs as the main rigging points. any plasma bracke t I have seen is designed to facilitate this method. If you reall want to go further and recess the plasma into the wall itself, a custom fabricated system is required, and depending on the wall (supporting or not) structural considerations will have to be dealt with. I think a plasma recessed into a wall, or a fireplace with just an inch or so revealed looks stunning

I wouldn't use this method with a 50" plasma, or even a 42" one. Wall anchors in sheet rock aren't enough. You have to be able to sleep at night. When bidge builders design bridges, they allow for a factor of 7 times the tollerance. a 50" plasma coming down would be a disaster for many reasons. I don't know of many walls without studs (usually 16" on centre), However, if you are not finding any studs in appropriate locations, you should be removing sheet rock and installing additional support(furring out)such as plywood or cross members between studs that you can anchor the bracket to. Often this can be done without a lot of patching since the plasma will conceal the structural reinforcement. Most people will want the wall re finished in any event.

What if there are only metal studs behind the wall?

Are there certain drill bits you can buy to get through them? and even then, should i use anchors or what?

What about the heat that a plasma generates when you build it into the wall? Do you leave one inch, two inches all the way around for convection air flow to keep it from getting too hot?

I know you would not want to frame it tight. Too much space around would look pretty silly and so on.

Thanks!

Long gutter nails- straight through the front of the TV and into the wall.
"Here's your TV. Like it? Good."

We have shelves in our office that are held up by wall anchors. Standard metal wall anchors. These anchors hold anywhere from 100-300 lbs. for the brackets, shelves and stuff...depending on the day.

I just looked up a typical plasma, the best Panny consumer 42" HDTV, $6000 MSRP. It weighs 92.6 lbs. according to the specs. Add maybe 30 for the wall bracket and 4 wall anchors should be enough to hold it forever with no worries.

Go back to Mcnasty's first post. It doesn't take all that much to hold 120 lbs. Are people this paranoid when they hang a $6000 painting on the wall? Which, unlike a TV, can't be replaced! At my grandmother's house she had a mirror that was at least 100 lbs. It was hung for 10 years on plaster (admittedly stronger than sheetrock, but not like a wall stud) with just screws. No problem for the wall, but it took 3 people to get it down due to the dimensions.

I suppose if you are in an active earthquake area, this wouldn't apply.

RTI installer has a great method, and it's solid as well as simple. If you don't want to start removing drywall, measure the distance between the center of the bolt mounts that the bracket would normally screw onto on the chasis of the plasma. Obtain the correct size of bolt and thread type for the bolt hole. cut a piece of 1/8 inch flatbar steel to length and make slots in the top of the bar at the exact distance between the corresponding bolt hole pattern. Anchor the flat bar to the wall studs with about a 2" cutout where the slots are in the drywall. Thread your blots into the plasm leaving a little over 1/8" protruding. Hang the plasma onto the slots of the secured flatbar like a picture. This is for wodden construction, but would work also with RTI's backing. Makes for a very flush on wall mount, and the cost of having it fabricated is peanuts. A lot less than many of the plasma mounts, and gets you a lot closer to the wall

Here's an interesting installation problem. I was asked to install a 26" LCD TV which weighs 50 lbs onto an 18" articulated mount attached to a plaster wall. The interior wall in this Chicago hi-rise condo is only 2" thick and of plaster construction. I can see the walls edge and verified it is only 2" thick! This isn't standard 2x4 with drywall construction and this has me concerned.

The mount came with two each 1/4" x 3" lag bolts for mounting the bracket to the wall. I can't use these bolts as they are longer then the wall is thick. I thought of constructing a board that would span two "studs" and attaching the bracket to the board but I still have doubts about the ability of this approach to hold the TV.

The homeowner doesn't want me to tear up the plaster wall and reinforce it or attach a support to the other side of the wall so I am stuck trying to reinforce the wall from only one side.

Any suggestions?

Sounds as if your wall is 2x3 or 2x4 on edge. Buy shorter lags, say 1 3/4" or 2 " with extra washers. Fasten to these sideways studs. It will be plenty strong. I would however recommend using 6 or 8 lags to be certain.